London Team

Nigel is the Solis Marine Chairman and brings to the Group a significant amount of executive and senior management level experience gained over more than 30 years within the marine consulting and offshore energy sectors. He is primarily responsible for assisting and advising the Partners and members of the senior management team on all strategic matters and for providing support to the implementation of the Group’s plans for growth.

Nigel was previously the Managing Director of a leading Marine Consultant and Surveyors where he led the sale of the business before overseeing a period of growth, introducing new service lines to the business to complement the traditional core activities. He was also previously Group Finance Director at a private equity backed multi-disciplinary Marine and Offshore Engineering Consultancy, and he has held the position of Strategic Director for the Technical Services Division of a leading UK listed shipping services group.

Nigel has a BA(Hons) degree in Business and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Class One Marine Engineer STCW III/2

Chartered Engineer and Chartered Marine Engineer

Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering Science and Technology

Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers

Chris is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology. Having served at sea and worked ashore in other technical roles, he first entered marine consultancy in 2008, and progressed to heading the UK marine engineering department of another leading marine consultancy. Chris joined Solis Marine Consultants in July 2021.

His surveying and consultancy experience includes main and auxiliary machinery failure and damage investigations, collision damages, bunker disputes, ship’s crane damages, fires and explosions, salvage and wreck removal. He applies a forensic, open-minded and balanced approach to his investigative work, with health, safety, environmental and human elements as other key considerations. Chris has attended mediation and given expert evidence at arbitration and in court.

At sea, he served on numerous cruise vessels, ro-ro’s, tugs and a dredger. He achieved his Class One Certificate of Competency (Motor) and has a broad experience of diesel, steam and diesel/steam electric propulsion systems and auxiliaries.

Other shore-based experience have included the commissioning of power generation and prime mover control systems, including gas turbines and dual fuel engines. He has also been involved in new-build, state-of-the-art environmental systems design, and in the development, trials and implementation of environmentally acceptable lubricants and hydraulic fluids.

Through his consultancy, he continues to be engaged with the environmental aspects of shipping, including through compliance surveys and other related matters, such as pollution investigations and discretionary claims.

Master Mariner STCW II/2.1

Associate Fellow of the Nautical Institute

Lead Auditor (ISO 9001, ISM, ISPS)

Member of the Society of Consulting Marine Engineers and Ship Surveyors

Paul brings many years of experience as master of panamax, handymax, and handysize bulk carriers and ship management ashore. Cargo specialisation has included carriage of ores, coal, grain, steel products, timber and forestry products, container, cement, cars and trailers, project cargoes and heavy lifts.

Paul has given expert oral evidence in the High Courts of London and Hong Kong and during arbitration tribunals in London, Hong Kong and Singapore. He has also acted as a nautical assessor to the High Court of Hong Kong.

As a marine consultant, Paul has spent time in the London market as well as a number of years in Hong Kong as director of a busy office for an international firm of consultants. Instructions have taken him to all parts of Europe, Africa, Indian Sub-Continent and Asia for site attendances involving many types of marine incidents.

Paul has prepared expert reports and advice on issues relating to bulk and break-bulk cargoes including liquefaction incidents, unsafe port/berth claims and unseaworthiness. He has also investigated groundings, collisions, ISM, ISPS and navigation issues.

Paul has also carried out Hull and Machinery and condition surveys on a wide variety of vessel types.

Master Mariner STCW II/2.1

Society of Offshore Marine Warranty Surveyors No. 0209. Oil & Gas / Project Cargo

Paul is a master mariner with extensive experience and has spent over 17 years as a Marine Warranty Surveyor (MWS) and consultant within the oil and gas industry working with oil majors. He joined Solis Marine Consultants in January 2021 after being based in the Middle East with a major international marine consultancy. Much of that work was with oil and gas projects which required attendances worldwide. As a project leader, Paul provides management and full oversight of maritime projects in all the areas of his expertise which included many vessel surveys.

Paul’s principal activities concerned the provision of MWS services for large onshore and offshore energy projects. Typically, this required the review of all marine related procedures and attendances both onshore and offshore to approve and witness critical operations as outlined below.

• Review of lifting, load-out/load-in, transport and towage procedures.
• Attend project meetings, risk assessments and HAZIDs.
• Attend onshore as MWS on site for load-outs, load-ins and sailaways.
• Attend offshore for jacket, deck and sub-sea installation works.

Paul has acted as the representative of insurers and insured interests on several high-profile wreck removal projects including ‘CP VALOUR’, ‘SIERRA NAVA’ and ‘COSTA CONCORDIA’.

Paul also served as a first class pilot in the rivers Humber, Trent and Ouse in the UK where he manoeuvred all types of vessels to river berths and docks in all weather conditions and tidal currents with and without tugs. That work also involved transiting narrow channels with minimum under keel clearance when necessary.

As a deck officer he gained experience on anchor handling vessels, dredgers, reefers, Ro-Ro’s and product carriers.